Report: Man United manager chose to sign £56m player over ‘elegant’ 21-year-old Man City star
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag reportedly chose to sign Lisandro Martinez ahead of Josko Gvardiol before he joined Manchester City.
The Citizens signed the defender from RB Leipzig during the previous summer transfer window in a deal worth £77m.
Prior to that, it has now been reported that the Croatian could have made a move to Manchester earlier than he did, but not to join Pep Guardiola’s side.
Gvardiol was a transfer option for United prior to City move
According to a recent report from The Athletic, shortly after he was announced to become the club’s new manager, Ten Hag was given a list of centre-back options for United to buy which included Martinez and Gvardiol as well as Pau Torres and Alessandro Bastoni.
The report then adds that Ten Hag “preferred Martinez, partially due to their established relationship and the player’s attainability, but also because he was seen as the most suitable of the targets.”
United ended up signing Martinez from Ajax for a fee of over £56m during the 2022 summer transfer window.
Since then, the Argentine has made 51 appearances for the Red Devils across all competitions, chipping in with one goal and one assist.
Focusing on Gvardiol, he has featured in 19 games for City across all competitions prior to tonight’s FIFA Club World Cup final against Fluminense.
This shows how important the 21-year-old has quickly become for the club, who clearly recognised how good he is by spending so much money to sign him.
While it’s still early days in his City career, if the Croatian can go on to have a successful spell with the Citizens and improve his game and win trophies along the way, everyone connected to the club will undoubtedly be thankful tha
